This Saris Bones 3-bike trunk rack has a unique arc-based design that separates bikes on different levels and fits over the spoilers of many cars. Rack comes preassembled with 6 attachment straps that secure the rack to your vehicle. Injection molded arms and legs are super strong and are built with 100% recycled, non-rusting materials. Integrated, ratcheting, anti-sway straps secure and stabilize bikes. Easily fits a wide range of vehicle styles: sedans, hatchbacks and mini-vans. Cradle design ...

2 Reviews

No Bones about it.

Review by FlanderFlop

November, 22 2008

Pros: Stable and well made

Cons: Not a fan of the design of the downtube strap.

The Saris Bones 3 is the three bike version of Saris' high end trunk racks. Of all the trunk racks I have used it is the most adjustable and fits the widest range of cars, which is nice because I have loaned it to friends a number of times and they have all been able to get it to fit their cars.

The Bones-3 is designed with large bumpers that prevent damage to the car and a 6 point strap system that makes it far more stable than many of its competitors. The lower bumpers of the rack are designed to rest on the bumper of the car and hold most of the weight of the bikes. There are two large upper straps that hook onto the edges of the trunk or rear door. Two side straps hold the rack stable laterally, and two lower straps keep the rack from bouncing up when the car hits a bump. So while the weight is held largely by the bumper and the two upper straps, the rock solid stability of this rack comes from the other four straps.

The Bikes are held on to the rack by three straps. Two of the straps go around the top tube of the bike, and the third goes around the seat tube of the bikes frame. While the seat tube straps work very well on traditional frames, small or oddly designed frames may have to give this strap a miss. I would also have preferred if they put a bumper by the seat tube strap instead of tightening the bikes frame on the hard plastic. The Bike straps are a lot better designed and I haven't had any issues with them. Fortunately these upper straps are more that sufficient to hold the bikes on the rack.

One of the things that people are often worried about is if the rack will do damage to their car. Most of this damage is actually caused by racks shifting around, so the Bones is less likely to do damage to the car than most other trunk racks. I did have one friend put a small dent in their car but they had overloaded the rack with three bikes and a bike trailer strapped on top. So while there was damage caused by the rack, I would consider this the result of misuse rather than a fault of the rack.

So if you need a trunk rack, I still feel that this is the best one on the market right now. It is a little more expensive than some of the other ones, but at $125 it is still a much better deal than roof racks, and it is worth it to spring for a little extra to make sure you have a stable rack on your car.